Donald Trump closes in on Hillary Clinton with presidential candidates neck and neck

Support for Mr Trump has risen since Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the race

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump (Getty)

The days when Donald Trump’s name may be preceded by the title “president” could be getting closer, after new polls show him pulling even – or even surging ahead – of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Two major polls released over the weekend showed the New York tycoon ahead or level with the former secretary of state. Providing evidence that there has been growing support for Mr Trump since he became the presumptive Republican nominee earlier this month.

In a Washington Post/ABC News poll, voters indicated they now preferred Mr Trump to become America’s next president by 46 to 44 percent, the first time he has led in this poll.

Meanwhile, Ms Clinton’s lead in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll had all but disappeared, down to just 3 percentage points, a difference within the poll’s margin of error. In the same poll in April, Ms Clinton held an 11-point advantage over Mr Trump, 50-39 percent, and she had led him by double digits since December.

The polls seemed to cement the momentum shift signaled by a pair of surveys last week showing Ms Clinton now trailing the billionaire.

Experts say the shift is likely the result of two factors. Since Mr Trump won the Indiana primary, forcing the remaining two Republicans Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the race, Mr Trump has seen his numbers rise as the party establishment slowly, if painfully, begins to accept him as its candidate. His support among independent voters has also likely increased as they now seriously consider him as a prospect for the first time.

Meanwhile, Ms Clinton is still having to fight against Senator Bernie Sanders, who cannot catch her in terms of the delegate haul, but who has vowed to continue his campaign all the way to the end of June, and even the party’s convention in Philadelphia this July.

While many Democrats have called on the Vermont Senator to end his campaign and allow Ms Clinton to focus on the looming showdown with Mr Trump, he has declined to do so. Indeed, if anything, he appears to have sharpened his attacks on his rival.

At the weekend, Ms Clinton sought to downplay Mr Trump’s surge, insisting that she had a better chance of defeating Mr Trump than Mr Sanders.

“People have voted for me overwhelmingly in the Democratic primary process,” Ms Clinton told NBC.

“I just think that I’m in a much stronger position.”

Meanwhile, Sunday’s polls also showed that many Americans will not like their next president – if it is either Mr Trump or Ms Clinton.

A majority of registered voters, 57 percent, viewed both candidates unfavourably, according to the Washington Post/ABC poll.

Of those, 46 percent said they had strongly unfavourable opinions of Ms Clinton, while 45 percent said the same thing about Mr Trump.

The same polls showed that Mr Sanders had a higher favourability than either candidate and that his chances of beating Mr Trump were higher.

On Sunday, he seized on this. “We need a campaign, an election, coming up which does not have two candidates who are really very, very strongly disliked,” he told ABC News.